Speculations About the Golden Finger

Detected Bone Severing Heart Sutra.

Heart Sutra types overlap.

Bone Severing Heart Sutra + Heart Slaughtering Technique.

Fusing...

Fusion successful!

You studied an unnamed book and, after fusion, comprehended the Severing Slaughter Heart Sutra.

Xu Bai: "..."

He really wanted to say that this name had been chosen far too casually...

They had taken a "Severing" from the Bone Severing Heart Sutra, then a "Slaughtering" from the Heart Slaughtering Technique.

Put together, they became the Severing Slaughter Heart Sutra.

The blue text began to fade, transforming into a beam of light that drilled into Xu Bai's mind.

The next moment, a flood of information surged in. At the same time, the True Qi within Xu Bai began to grow, becoming more than twice what it had been before in no time.

As the information flooded in, Xu Bai finally understood the meaning of the fused Heart Sutra.

Previously, the Bone Severing Heart Sutra had not actually been very advanced. Reaching the threshold of the Ninth Rank was already quite good.

Because the Bone Severing Heart Sutra itself was meant to complement the Bone Severing Blade Technique. It could even be said that the Bone Severing Blade Technique was primary, while the Bone Severing Heart Sutra was secondary.

Thus, even though Xu Bai had entered the Ninth Rank, he was only at its threshold.

The Heart Slaughtering Technique was different. It was purely a Heart Sutra, and even leaned toward combat.

During battle, every person he killed allowed him to seize the other party's True Qi and temporarily add it to himself for his own use.

Though it was only temporary, it still revealed the nature of this technique.

It was more suited to combat—life-and-death battles, especially the kind where one fought many.

However, the amount of True Qi seized was not much. Perhaps that was because the technique's rank was not high.

At this thought, a blue panel appeared before Xu Bai's eyes.

Name: Xu Bai.

Realm: Ninth Rank Martial Artist.

Bone Severing Blade Technique (Rank 1): Max Level.

Severing Slaughter Heart Sutra (Rank 1.5): Max Level.

Kidney Hammering Technique (Rank 1): Max Level.

Comprehension (Max Level).

Quite a lot of information today.

Xu Bai studied the pale-blue panel and thought to himself.

By obtaining the Heart Slaughtering Technique, he had gained quite a lot. It was not only what he had gained regarding Heart Sutras, but an even deeper understanding of the golden finger.

First, skills of the same type could fuse together, as could be seen from the Heart Slaughtering Technique and the Bone Severing Heart Sutra.

Second, fusion was not as simple as one plus one equaling two.

The Bone Severing Heart Sutra was a low-tier Rank 1 Heart Sutra, while the Heart Slaughtering Technique counted as a high-tier Rank 1 Heart Sutra. Yet after they fused, it had not become the Rank 2 technique he had imagined, nor had Xu Bai become an Eighth Rank Martial Artist.

On closer thought, that made sense.

To give a simple analogy, Rank 2 was like a bowl of carefully prepared sweet tofu pudding.

The Heart Slaughtering Technique was good-quality tofu pudding that had not been carefully prepared, while the Bone Severing Heart Sutra was poor-quality tofu pudding. If the two were smashed together, would they become sweet tofu pudding? No such thing.

He had an idea, though he did not know how effective it would be in practice.

If he found low-rank techniques to comprehend, then let them merge and accumulate endlessly, even if each only added 0.1, the total would still be a considerable enhancement.

Of course, there was the question of whether it was worth it.

Comprehension required time. If the combined time cost was no better than simply comprehending one high-level Heart Sutra, then there was no need.

"I'll settle on that for now and test it when the time comes." Xu Bai made up his mind.

If he got the chance, he would give it a try.

But at the moment, there was something more important.

—Eating, and looking at a beauty.

No, more accurately, looking at the Maple Leaf Tattoo on the beauty's hand.

Last night, the golden progress bar on Yun Xiang's hand had also been something he could comprehend. Naturally, Xu Bai did not want to let it slip away.

See, he was hungry and needed to eat. Taking a look while eating was perfectly reasonable.

After changing into a fresh set of clothes, Xu Bai tucked the Ghost-Head Saber into his belt and went out for a meal.

The streets were still bustling, with people constantly coming and going.

It was March, the finest time of year. Everywhere he walked, spring filled the air.

Passersby occasionally exchanged a few words, and after hearing them, Xu Bai understood that those corpses had been discovered.

People from the County Office had gone over, taken a casual look, then sent someone to bury them in the Mass Burial Grounds.

They were not locals and had carried blades. The county magistrate immediately deemed them Jianghu people, did not ask further questions, and could not even be bothered to investigate.

This world only looks peaceful.

Xu Bai thought as he walked.

The emperor of the Great Chu Kingdom treated the common people extremely well and had issued an ironclad law: anyone who harmed ordinary citizens within a city would definitely be investigated to the bitter end.

Yet the emperor turned a blind eye to the Jianghu.

To put it plainly, you Jianghu people could kill each other as much as you liked, but you were not allowed to lay hands on ordinary people under his nose. And you had better not make things too big—if they got too big, he would step in.

Considering the current situation, the Great Chu emperor's move of letting them wear each other down was exceedingly clever.

Military generals guarded the Border Pass. They had to deal with the Barbarians of the Western Borderlands while remaining wary of the Great Yue Kingdom eyeing them like a tiger from the south. Where would they find the attention to spare?

Scholars managed affairs within the court and sought peace under heaven; they also dealt with ordinary people.

Only the Jianghu people were difficult to control.

Xu Bai guessed that the emperor no longer possessed his former vigor.

When Great Chu had first been founded, he had dared to fight anyone. He had forcibly made the entire Jianghu fear him.

But now that his foundation had grown larger, there were more things to consider, and he thought more as well.

The emperor was quite pleased with this game of Jianghu people fighting Jianghu people.

Yet Xu Bai always felt something was off—something was still missing.

If the Jianghu people caused trouble and could not be restrained, what would be used to keep them in check?

Military generals?

If military generals were transferred back from the Border Pass, the Barbarians of the Western Borderlands and the Great Yue Kingdom would laugh their mouths wide open.

Scholars?

The scholars of the Confucian path were quite capable fighters. They were the kind who, if they could not reason you into submission, would use their fists to beat you into accepting reason.

But the scholars were all governing the country, managing the livelihoods of the people under heaven. Surely they could not simply switch positions? Xu Bai finally understood what was missing.

What was missing was an organization specifically responsible for dealing with such people. Or perhaps one already existed, but someone at the level of Xu Bai's former self was not qualified to come into contact with it.

Lost in thought, he had already arrived at the inn.

Shaking his head to toss aside those thoughts, Xu Bai put on a smile and entered the inn.

The Welcoming Inn was still as lively as yesterday, packed with diners.

The moment Xu Bai entered, the waiter came out.

Inn waiters were mostly sharp-eyed. At once, he recognized Xu Bai and remembered how generously this guest had spent yesterday. He hurriedly bowed and scraped, leading Xu Bai inside.

"The usual. Same as yesterday." Xu Bai took a sip of tea and said.

"Right away!" the waiter answered, then left with a rag draped over his shoulder.

After the waiter left, Xu Bai looked around and finally spotted that alluring figure.

Yun Xiang stood by the counter with her head lowered, doing the accounts.

In such a large inn, Xu Bai had not seen an accountant. It seemed Yun Xiang held that position as well.

From time to time, customers came to settle their bills. The waiter would rush into the kitchen, then hurry back out and bring the silver to the counter.

Yun Xiang calculated with great focus, holding a writing brush in her hand. The red maple leaf on the back of her hand flickered in and out of view.

Xu Bai stared at the back of Yun Xiang's hand as a golden progress bar emerged.